I own neither, as I don't have much hair and am not a DIY enthusiast. Until now, whenever I've needed one, I've borrowed a hair dryer from a friend. It's probably time for me to invest in my own equipment as I seem to be on the scrounge more frequently.

Any comments on which is more suitable from a tennis perspective? With the hair dryer, I've found it fine for softening up grommets, but sometimes changing pallets can be laborious. I've yet to fit a heat shrink grip. I'm wondering whether a heat gun would be more suitable, or if it might have it's own problems (such as being too hot).

I own neither, as I don't have much hair and am not a DIY enthusiast. Until now, whenever I've needed one, I've borrowed a hair dryer from a friend. It's probably time for me to invest in my own equipment as I seem to be on the scrounge more frequently.

Any comments on which is more suitable from a tennis perspective? With the hair dryer, I've found it fine for softening up grommets, but sometimes changing pallets can be laborious. I've yet to fit a heat shrink grip. I'm wondering whether a heat gun would be more suitable, or if it might have it's own problems (such as being too hot).

A two-stage heat gun is like a two-stage hair dryer on steroids. For many applications, the heat gun on low will be faster/better than the hair dryer on high. I reckon I'd check the closeout aisles of big-box stores or even Big Lots and the like for either. As you know, either can pull some serious juice, so it's good to know what circuits are in use/available and how to re-set the breaker/fuse.

BTW, a better heat gun can stand up to cool off or possibly be used in a stationary position more easily than most hair dryers.

Heat guns are serious tools, but if you really don't plan to use the heat gun for anything else... I'm not sure it's worth the investment. They're not exactly expensive, though. If you're buying fresh and you know you won't use the hair dryer, it's a no brainer, here. You don't need (to be) einstein (haired) to figure that one out.

I got mine from Grizzly tools a long while back, pretty much any will do.

It depends. If you only need it for tennis, then heat gun absolutely. It will do your job perfectly well. However, and take this from someone who uses them frequently, they aren't forgiving when an unattentive person is using them. As someone else said, take all of the heat generated in 5 minutes by your blow dryer and that's the normal flow for a heat gun. Like many things in life, even though it's the proper tool for the job, you do need to understand how it works to avoid damaging something.

Heat guns are serious tools, but if you really don't plan to use the heat gun for anything else... I'm not sure it's worth the investment. They're not exactly expensive, though. If you're buying fresh and you know you won't use the hair dryer, it's a no brainer, here. You don't need (to be) einstein (haired) to figure that one out.

I got mine from Grizzly tools a long while back, pretty much any will do.

I NEED that guy's accent. I can just imagine going into a gas station and being like "Ey need change far a tvantee!"

It depends. If you only need it for tennis, then heat gun absolutely. It will do your job perfectly well. However, and take this from someone who uses them frequently, they aren't forgiving when an unattentive person is using them. As someone else said, take all of the heat generated in 5 minutes by your blow dryer and that's the normal flow for a heat gun. Like many things in life, even though it's the proper tool for the job, you do need to understand how it works to avoid damaging something.

True, you'll develop bad habits with a hair dryer. With any heat gun, give the piece some working distance, and rotate constantly, you don't actually want huge amounts of shrinking on one end of the tube, or the weight distribution will actually get a little bit wonky.

Heat gun for sure. If you have a Harbor Freight Tools by you, they sell an inexpensive one that would be just fine.

yep, heat gun for sure as well...got mine from HF for $10+tax. i use it to shrink tie off grommets that have been stretched and enlarged. i use it to soften bumpers around the curve making it much easier to stretch to fit when replacing grommets. makes quick work of heat shrink build up sleeves.

However, just as things seemed so straightforward, I find myself intrigued by this comment:

I do have a gas hob. Hmm...

If you only use the heatgun for shrink wrap, then a stove will do you just fine, since you honestly don't do many shrink sleeves in general. If you used it for pallets or bumper guards, that'd get painful quickly. You might also bubble the paint or plastic since it'd work so slow. If you want to do more "serious" customization, spend $15-20 on a heat gun.